Untitled
by yukikaza
Summary: Years after the bombing threat at Tokyo Tower in ep. 304, Ayumi must face another bombing threat at Osaka. This time Conan isn't there to save the day.


Disclaim: I don't own Detective Conan.

This might look a little similar to ep. 304, but there're a few key differences, plus it's centered on Ayumi in the future.

June 22, 2003

Osaka, Japan

Inside a small apartment

Ayumi signed heavily as she once again stares at the cryptic message. It is at times like this that she wonders why she joined the police force in the first place. It is one at night, and she still has no idea what the message meant. She thought of the other young detectives she always hung out with before. Oh how she would give almost anything to be with them again. When she was with them, she felt like she has the power to solve any and all difficult cases. However, no matter what she wishes for, she knows that she is alone now, and she has to solve the mystery by herself.

Two weeks ago there was a small bomb placed in one of the local playground. Although no one got hurt, it had caused quite a commotion. At the scene of the bombing, a small note was left saying that it was only a warning. Worse bombing looms in the future. Yesterday, another note with the same format was send to a local police station. On that note was the mysterious message Ayumi is starring at now. The message was written in an esoteric code. Unable to come up with any solutions to the current crisis, she put the paper aside.

Ayumi laid in her small bed and thought of all she knew about the situation. Apparently, this case was anything but unprecedented. According to her more experienced partner, a similar case took place a few years back. In that case, the bomb was found before it could go off. Unfortunately however, a police officer inadvertently caused it to explode after thinking it was safe when the timer tied to the explosive stopped. The officer was killed instantly by the explosion. A five years old girl was heavily injured because the playground was yet to be evacuated completely. Luckily that wasn't more casualties.

The thoughts of her current partner caused Ayumi's thoughts to digress. Despite the years of experience he had, the old man never once belittled her, who was the "newbie" in the department. Realizing that her thoughts went off on a tangent, Ayumi thought back to the cold case. Stop short on that particular thought. She realized what she failed to grasp when she first heard of the case. That case was a cold case, meaning that the culprit was never caught. Getting off the bed quickly, she turned on her computer and began to search exhaustively on all things pertaining to the incident. Even the most extraneous details were noted. Slowly, but surely, the pieces began to fall in place. By now Ayumi was sure there was a solid connection between what happened before and what is happening now.

June 24, 2003

Osaka Police Station

Ayumi stretched as she came out of yet another tedious meeting. It has been two days since the threats of bombing was received. There are still no new leads. They were unable to decipher the exact time and place of the bombing from the cryptic text. What they could make out was that it was set to happen sometimes in the next two days. In other words, they are running out of time.

On the plus side, Ayumi herself was able to gather more information on two suspects. Yesterday, she checked the lists of people who are present at the small bombing two weeks ago and those who are related to the case years ago. As it turn out two had connections to both cases. This certainly narrowed the list of suspects. However, because the female officer was unsure of her deduction, she had kept the information to herself.

One of the suspects was a formal kindergarten teacher. In the case three years ago, she had leaded a group of her students to the playground in a small field trip. She had lost her job because the girl who got hurt was supposed to be under her supervision. Other institutions refused to hire her after the incident. When Ayumi had first started to gather information on her, she thought it was unlikely that the teacher was the criminal seeing as the bomb was homemade. A kindergarten teacher would be unlikely to have the skill needed to make a bomb. The other suspect, in contrast, has more knowledge in the area. The man was a chemist. He was the father of the girl would got injured. According to his friends, he was angry with police for causing the bomb to explode while his daughter was still present.

After reading the documents over and over again, the young police officer was left unsure as what to do next. With a heavy sign, she decided to call her partner and tell him the situation. She could only hope that her deduction was right. She had no intention to make a fool out of herself.

June 26, 2003

A

café in Osaka

To say that Ayumi was tired was a vast understatement. She hadn't been able to get anywhere new in the past two days. At first she had been excited that her partner seemed to agree with her theories. So they had reported to their superiors. However, because there were no solid evidences to support what the department chair called a "mere hunch," the two officers were left as sitting ducks, while the other officers worked tirelessly to decode the message left by the criminal.

After the two partners talked with each other cautiously, they decided to take the risk and follow their instinct. Though both knew that their actions could cost them heavily in the future, they refused to risk the lives to innocent children. So just like that, they set out to monitor the actions of the two suspects.

It was two in the afternoon; still there was nothing out of the ordinary. Ayumi slipped her coffee as she watched the formal teacher read the newspaper quietly in the small café. She tried to appear less incongruous by pretending to read her own newspaper. At that moment, the waiter passed by and accidentally hit the table Ayumi was sitting at, thus causing her coffee to spill. In the mist of apologies and attempts to clean up the mess, Ayumi looked up and over to her subject, only to discover that the woman had disappeared. Stopped in middle of all her actions, she stood up immediately and rushed out of the shop in hope to catch up to the suspect. Just as she went out of the doorway, she felt a small tap on her shoulder.

Cursing at her own carelessness, Ayumi turned around and confronted the woman she had been following for the past five hours.

"Who are you? And why are you following me? Quit it before I call the police!" The woman demanded.

Realizing the irony of the situation, Ayumi took out of her badge. "Hello, my name is Ayumi Yoshida. I have a few question concerning a bombing a few years ago."

The woman was visibly upset. "Did you finally catch the culprit?"

"Unfortunately not. There is a bombing threat now that we think is related to the incident before. We would appreciate it if you could help us in the investigation." The officer knew that she didn't have enough evidence to make an arrest, so for now she would play along and get some additional information that could be used later.

"Bombing threat? This wouldn't have to do with the note that was left at the scene of the bombing two weeks ago, would it? I was there then."

"Yes, we have evidence to believe that the two cases are connected."

"I wasn't going to say anything, but now that you asked, the father of the girl who got injured before was the one who said to meet him at the playground. At first, I wasn't gonna go, but he said it was the girl who asked him to forget the incident and tie things up before they leave the country next week. I always had a weakness in little children, so I went at the time we agreed on. I hadn't been able to find the father and daughter before the explosion occurred that day. Now that I think about it the whole incident was rather peculiar."

When the woman had finished, Ayumi's face was visibly paled. The daughter had died in a car accident a year ago. It was a trap set by the father to make the formal teacher a suspect. Suddenly, Ayumi stopped in middle of her thoughts. She had to remember that she was talking to another suspect. There's nothing to support any of this other than the woman's word.

"Excuse me for a moment, I need to share these information with my partner. Thank you for your cooperation." Ayumi quickly took out of her cell phone and called the older officer who is currently keeping an eye on the other suspect.

As they discussed the situation, the voice on the other end of the line suddenly stopped. What was said next was done so with the voice of dread. "Ayumi, you'd better get here fast, I am currently at the playground in the Midosuji district. The man seems to be making his move."

Before Ayumi could reply, there was an unmistakable sound of explosion. Then the line went dead.

June 26, 2004

Midosuji cemetery, Osaka Japan

Ayumi laid the fresh flowers upon the newly cleansed stone. There was a small shower hours before, washing away all the impurities. The name, Wataru Takagi, was carved clearly on the stone. Detective Wataru Takagi, died at the hands of the criminal he once pursued. The man who was responsible for his death was mentally unstable. His mind had eclipsed two incidents together. He had thought that his daughter was killed in a bombing due to the carelessness of the Osaka Police. He had planned to lure the police into the setting in which his daughter was hurt and then exact revenge upon them. Takagi was the only one present at the scene, since it was school hours on a weekday. For this Ayume felt responsible. The guilt ate away at her for the past year.

"It wasn't your fault." Miwako Takagi, the wife of the deceased detective, gently laid her hand on the shoulder of the younger woman.

"I know." Silently she turned away. 'Goodbye partner.'


End file.
